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I am Setsuna Preview - The Return of the Classic Square RPG

I’ve been lamenting the loss of the golden age of the JRPG for a long time. When Square Enix announced that they were bringing I am Setsuna to North America on July 19th of this year, I was ecstatic. I’d finally be able to relive that nostalgic time and fill that void that’s been empty for so long.

I am Setsuna, developed by Tokyo RPG Factory and Published by Square Enix, is an homage to the golden age of the JRPB in every sense of the definition. Tokyo RPG Factory (TRF), a development team created by Square Enix that combined internal and external staff who shared the common goal of reviving the golden age, was inspired by classic games such as Chrono Trigger in the making of the game. Sitting down to play the game at PAX East this year, it became quickly clear to me how much reverence is held for the source material by the team.

The story centers around Setsuna, a young woman born to sacrifice her life in order to protect the people of her land. She is accompanied by companions who aid her on her quest. Walking through the nearby town, we learn that the previous group had failed in their attempt to complete the sacrifice, and the land is overrun with monsters. The people fear for their lives and depend on Setsuna to complete her journey and save them. It is obvious that the team at TRF went through great pains to present the themes of sorrow, death, loss and coming to terms with these inevitable events in every human’s life throughout the story and visuals.

The demo opened with snow swirling about our heroes as they trudged through vast, empty, open map in a peaceful winter mountain canyon. This snow-cladded backdrop was punctuated with the colourful party, beautifully designed by toi8, best known for his work on the character design on Full Metal Alchemist, that trudged through the frigid tundra. The entire scene looked as if it came from a watercolour painting that was transformed into a PS4 version of a 16-bit-inspired scene. Between that and the all-piano soundtrack that played delicately in the background, I was completely immersed in the world and moved with the sorrow it had and will go through.

Much like the game that Setsuna drew inspiration from, the team at TRF uses top down visuals for the gameplay. You follow a fairly linear path in the open map and experience no random encounters. The developers intended a seamless battle transition which occur in the various dungeons that scatter the map. The battles themselves return us to that classic turn-based battle system, familiar to all fans of the genre. But the attacks and magic used are where I really experienced the tribute. I opened the command menu for the first of my party primed to attack and was elated as I scrolled down to activate my first attack. Little touches like X-Strike, Aura and party combos are what really brought me back to my time spent playing games like this on my Super Nintendo and PlayStation. Right away I decided to select X-Strike and watched the animation as two companions slashed from one edge of the battlefield to the other to create a glowing X that heavily damaged the enemy before them. I set another character to perform Cyclone and watched as they spun around the enemy in a green streak on their turn. Finally I had Setsuna cast Aura and watched the spell sparkle down, healing another member’s HP. It was exactly as I remembered, but with the visuals that I desperately wanted all those years ago.

As excited as I was to play I Am Setsuna, 20 minutes of gameplay merely whet my appetite. I can't wait to dig deeper into the touching story and find out what other tributes Tokyo RPG Factory has in store for its audience this summer.

So the company that is completely redesigning one of their most beloved games (FF7) because they didn't think people wanted to stare at static menus and turn based combat is making a game with static menus and turn based combat because people love them so much? I am starting to think this FF7 'remake' is going to be a great fleecing. I love SquEnix, but this raises some suspicions about this upcoming reimagining of a classic game and it's episodic direction.

dancelouisdance

You do realize how much more work the new ff7 is right? Look how long 16 took to come out. You think they are lying when they said they want to bring the game out as fast as possible?. Which is why they are going episodic-ish

SnapperTrx

Yes I realize how much more work is going into it, but it was unnecessary. Don't get me wrong, it looks fantastic, but SE has said they didn't want to remake the original as it was because nobody wanted to see such an antiquated system of menus and combat on high powered gaming systems. Yet here we have a game that pays homage to those old systems because "people love them so much". It doesn't make sense to say that no one wants them yet everyone loves them. It makes me think that SE knew beforehand that an FF7 remake would make a bunch of money anyway, and what better way to make more than to release it in episodes? Figure 60$ for a full game, typically, compared to 20$ an episode for, say, 5 episodes. That's a hefty extra profit. And now they say ffxv is make or break for the series? What better time to call on your ace and pull in some big money with a sure thing? Add to that by getting more youngsters interested by releasing Cloud into Smash Bros? I am suspicious, and rightfully so. It won't make a difference, but I have been a fan of the FF series since the beginning, and care about it quite deeply as a fan.

dancelouisdance

ff7 is on a whole different league, are you telling me This game would sell more than ff7? no way dude, This is a easy great looking homage to one of their classics simple as that. FF7 is considered a All around AAA classic, they are thinking bigger,

We will have cutscenes, The story will be more defined 3d action gameplay = more sales/for everyone and not just jrpg enthusiast